Snow removal machines, such as snow plows, front end loaders, and snow blowers have a long history of use in removing snow from streets and highways. These snow removal machines have, for example, skid shoes that support front end components, such as the snow blower's auger housing. The skid shoes of these snow removal machines are set to be immobile with bolts, pins, or some kind of adjustment linkages when the snow removal machines are being operated. The skid shoes are one of the snow removal machine's points of contact of with the street surface. The skid shoes' contacts with the street surface have a critical functionality in the snow removal machine's operation. On a reasonably flat surface, according to many Operators' manuals, the skid shoes are pre-set to have a fixed distance from a horizontal that is assumed or estimated to be the flat surface. In such a configuration, the snow removal machine's blower component's cutting edge is able to clear snow in its path without scraping the surface of the street because the cutting edge is supported and guided by the skid shoes. This leaves a layer of snow still on the ground because the cutting edge is set to be above the surface of the ground. When surface is not reasonably flat, the skid shoes can fail to support the cutting edge from scraping the surface of the street. For example, a dip in the surface of the street can cause the skid shoe to become airborne when the dip is between the cutting edge of the snow blower and one of the wheels of the snow blower vehicle. This leads to the skid shoe not making contact with the surface of the street to support the weight of the snow blower and causes the cutting edge of the snow blower to drop from its fixed height above the street and to contact the surface of the street. This situation can damage the cutting edge and/or the surface of the street as the cutting edge strikes an obstruction on the street.
Therefore, prior art snow blower devices are generally used with the cutting edge of the snow blower set to be above the surface and do not contact the ground as a safety precaution to avoid the cutting edge from striking an obstacle and damaging the snow blower device and/or the user of the snow blower. Thus prior art snow blowers generally leave a layer of snow still on the ground.